film criticism by maryann johanson | handcrafted since 1997
Today’s QOTD comes via David Sirota at AlterNet, who poses the idea not as a question — because he believes the knows the answer — but as a declarative: he knows why undead corpses dominating at the box office. Not surprisingly — since politics is Sirota’s purview — he thinks it has to do with … more…
And so do decade-old movies about playthings: 1. Zombieland: $24.7 million (NEW) 2. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: $15.8 million (3rd week; drops 37%) 3. Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D: $12.5 million (NEW) 4. Surrogates: $7.2 million (2nd week; drops 51%) 5. The Invention of Lying: $7 million (NEW) actual numbers, not estimates What … more…
We know how it is: You’d like to go to the movies this weekend, but all those zombies roaming the land aren’t gonna kill themselves. But you can have a multiplex-like experience at home with a collection of the right DVDs. And when someone asks you on Monday, “Hey, did you see Zombieland this weekend?” … more…
Kinda sorta Shaun of the Dead done up American style, so instead of cricket bats as weapons and jokes about tea, it’s shotguns as anti-zombie devices and a quest to find the last Twinkie.
As of this writing, 15 movies will open wide in North America in the month of October. Which means that even if you’re an active moviegoer and see a movie each week, you’ve still gotta pick and choose (and it’s even worse if you’re in a city on the arthouse circuit, but let’s not make … more…
Take a break from work: watch a trailer… Awesome. Worried about climate change and peak oil and your adjustable rate mortgage readjusting? Don’t. Is it Shaun of the Dead in America? A bit. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Zombieland opens in the U.S. on October 2, and in the U.K. on October 9.
You’ve seen Paul Schneider in movies like Lars and the Real Girl and Away We Go, and he’s in Parks & Recreation on NBC, which just had its second season premiere last night. And now he’s starring in Bright Star, Jane Campion’s new movie about the poet John Keats and his romance with Fanny Brawne, … more…
